Trade deal helps Texas, but add Canada, too

Texas workers celebrating Labor Day got some potentially good news from the renegotiated trade deal between the United States and Mexico, but members of Congress from Texas must read the fine print. Texas will probably be affected by this agreement more than any other state because we have so much trade with Mexico. That’s all the more reason to vet it carefully during the approval process — and make sure that Canada is included later.

Even though Canada doesn’t have a lot of trade with Texas now, that could change if the Keystone XL pipeline is ever finished. It would bring Canadian oil to refineries in Port Arthur and Houston, either for processing here or export. Either option boosts the economy of Southeast Texas.

The pipeline is less important now with the surge in domestic oil production, but that picture could change in five or 10 years. What matters is that Canada has a resource it wants to sell (tar sands oil in the Alberta province) and the U.S. has refineries that can process it. If the pipeline’s path can overcome objections in Nebraska, it could be finished soon. The southern half of it, from Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast, has been operational for years.